


We Can Be Sad Old Men Together

by Bi_lithiumcrystals



Category: RWBY
Genre: M/M, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Sobriety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21702526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bi_lithiumcrystals/pseuds/Bi_lithiumcrystals
Summary: Ironwood walks in on Qrow intensely training and starts a conversation about the two of them
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/James Ironwood
Comments: 6
Kudos: 108





	We Can Be Sad Old Men Together

Qrow swung his sword in a wide arc, panting. He had been in this training room for more than an hour. He didn't have an opponent, so he kept running through basic forms and moves. While not as strenuous as sparring with a skilled opponent, he had been working long enough that he was covered in sweat and quickly approaching exhaustion. Nonetheless, he continued through another set of forms, not noticing someone else had entered the room until they called his name.

He planted Harbinger on the ground, holding on to it like a walking stick as he turned toward the door and saw James, who fully entered the room and asked "What are you doing here so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Qrow replied, voice hoarse.

"I try to come by and work on something everyday after I'm done actually working."

"You _just_ got off?"

James sighed, "There's a lot to be done."

Qrow tilted his head. "Fair. Wanna spar?"

"You look like you could use a break."

"I'm fine." He tried to slow his breathing and stand up straighter as though that would prove it.

"Qrow." James leveled him with a look that Qrow couldn't figure out if it was derision, pity, or commiseration. "You can't work yourself to exhaustion."

"Hypocrite."

"I know." He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He took a breath before continuing. "But, part of why I was so glad to see you arrive is that having another of Oz's lieutenants has made it so that I don't have to focus on the Ace Op's mission as much." He reached out and placed a hand on Qrow's shoulder. "Just having you here has helped me a lot, so let me help you, please."

Qrow rolled his eyes, preparing to deflect again, but the stupid, earnest look on James' face made him back down. He sighed and put Harbinger away, then sat back on one of the black blocks the room was full of, propping one knee up and resting his elbow on it.

"I just…" he stared at his hands, flexing his fingers and trying to figure out how to phrase it without feeling pathetic. "I don't know what to do with my time now. I spent three decades drinking my life away, and now that I'm trying to get it back, I'm realizing I don't have much of one. I don't have any hobbies. And the kids don't need me crashing their fun. I just… even ignoring the actual impulses to drink and all the mental bullshit I've been going through, I just don't know what to do, how to just exist as a normal person. So, I've been spending an insane amount of time training."

James sighed and sat down on an adjacent block. "I'm sorry you're going through this. Is there anything I can do?"

Qrow made eye contact with him again. "Got any suggestions for hobbies?"

James opened his mouth for a moment, but then closed it again, looking away pensively. Qrow raised an eyebrow at him, slightly amused as he waited for the answer.

"I'm realizing I'm married to my job. I don't think I have any hobbies. Most of the little free time I have is spent training or working on or with Penny. Or planning against Salem, but I don't even know if I should count any of that as free time."

"Great, we can be sad, old men together."

That got James to laugh at least. "Well, what have you been doing with your time over the years? You can't have spent literally all of it drinking, so what's stopping you from doing the same stuff sober?"

Qrow rubbed the back of his head and broke eye contact. "Aside from missions for Oz and spending time with the girls and Tai whenever I happened to be in Patch? Pretty much just wandering through life aimlessly and looking for meaningless hookups."

"Oh. Well..." James flushed, though it was harder to see now with the beard. Qrow wondered if that was part of why he grew it. The blush also seemed to be worsening the longer he stayed silent. Eventually, he took a deep breath and continued, "If you want, we could do that again."

Qrow choked on his own spit. While, yes, he and James had hooked up before, it had been more than a decade since that had happened, and he had thought James wasn't interested in it ever continuing. He coughed a few times before clarifying, "I'm sorry, Jimmy, did you just offer to fuck me because I'm sad?"

James' eyes went wide, "No! Well, not like that, anyway. I mean… well, we have done it before."

"Yeah, but it didn't work out so well last time."

They had been in their late 20s by the time Oz had brought James into the inner circle and they met each other, and they had immediately not gotten along. They were constantly arguing, but after Qrow had drunkenly told James how attractive he was, they had formed a not-really-friends with benefits arrangement. Eventually, they called it off for several reasons, the most pressing of which was their arguing had only worsened. It was only once they stopped letting the tension build until they found their way to a bedroom, and started actually speaking to each other on missions had their friendship formed. And over the years, it had grown a friendship Qrow cared about deeply. One that he didn't want to risk bringing unnecessary tension back into, even if he had started to develop feelings for James over the years.

Especially since those feelings had already caused enough problems for their friendship. Qrow had taken to getting very drunk before seeing James in recent years in an attempt to quell them. Which had only lead to further pining, as well as bitterness. He still cringed thinking about how he had told James he'd shoot himself if he were one of his men and then had called him heartless. Even with him sober now, throwing sex back into the mix of unrequited feelings would undoubtedly spell disaster.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he was surprised he even noticed James start to speak again. "No, it didn't. But we didn't actually care about each other last time." He rested a hand on Qrow's knee. "Now we do. Very much so, at least on my end"

Qrow furrowed his brows and looked at James. "Wait." He needed a second to process that. "Are you asking me to hook up with you, or date you?"

James flushed again, bright enough this time that it was definitely visible through the beard. "Do you… Do you have a preference?"

"Oh no," Qrow laughed, hope blooming in his chest. "You don't get to come in here and drop the bombshell that you're still into me, when I'm already going through something, and then just chicken out of actually asking me. Ask me like you mean it, Jimmy." 

James suddenly pulled his hand back. "You're right, I never should have said that. You obviously don't need this right now." He refused to look at Qrow, rubbing his hand over his face as he stood up. "And we're working together now, I'm basically your SO. I apologize, I never should have brought it up." He started to walk away before Qrow called out again, walking after him and grabbing his hand.

"Hey! You definitely don't get to get my hopes up and then just leave without actually doing it. I mean it, ask me." He stood in front of him now, still holding the hand he had grabbed.

James hesitated, his eyes drifting from Qrow's eyes to their hands. "You want this?" he asked slowly.

"Obviously," Qrow squeezed his hand.

He swallowed. "Qrow. Would you like to have dinner with me? As a date?"

Qrow smiled broadly up at him, before reaching up to pull James down into a soft kiss. When he pulled away with a small smile, he whispered, "Yeah. I'd like that."

James broke into a smile and leaned back in to kiss him again, but Qrow pulled away. "I do have to point out though that this isn't going to change anything. Dating you may be nice, but I'm still a mess, and a relationship isn't going to fix that."

James nodded. "I know. It's also not going to lighten our workload. I unfortunately doubt that'll be able to spend much more time with you."

"So we really will be sad, old men together."

James laughed at that and wrapped his arms around Qrow. "'Together' is the important part."

Qrow raised his eyebrows and stared at him incredulously. "You're such a sap."

Another blush. Oh, Qrow was going to have so much fun finding all the ways to make him do that. "Do you like it at least?"

Qrow hummed softly. "Yeah. I do." He reached up to kiss James again, unbelieving of his luck to have this idiot in his life and want him back.

He knew this didn't fix everything. He was still a mess. So was all of Atlas and Mantle. Salem was still out there, immortal. And Qrow and the kids were still keeping the truth from James. That last one especially, Qrow would have to figure out soon. As much as he wanted this, he didn't want to lie to James. He needed to talk to the kids or somehow figure out how to establish with James that he wouldn't tell him everything without tipping him off to how much he didn't know. But for this moment, he just let himself enjoy the good things he did have.

**Author's Note:**

> So I while I had pictured them as exes for years, I never actually pictured that relationship being a friends with benefits (enemies with benefits?) situation, but that's just what my brain produced when I was writing, so


End file.
